How to Write a Love Story

How to Write a Love Story

It‘sbeena long while since I’ve cooked up a love story. Love stories are such a cliché. You don’t need to work hard, consult google, or do a research to write a love story; just grab a pen and imagine a girl. And if you’re good with descriptions, it gets a hell lot easier.

So here’saguidetoconstructingalovestory. If you have suggestions or praises for this article, kindly put it in the comments section.

TheEnding :- Tragedy or Happy Ending? Tragedy makes up great, unforgettable stories. Happy Endings will make you popular among teenage girls (yeah, I just stereotyped). Now, most of the writers kill the protagonist’s girlfriend or boyfriend by the end of the book. JohnGreen did it right in the middle. This surely is the most popular weapon, however, whattrulywrenchesmyveryown heartis seperation, and not death. Both are alive but are not together. Like in DearJohn, John Tyree, in the last page, sees his girl, Savannah, staring at the moon. He too stares at the moon, and feels they are together again. It’s such a heartbreaking scene. To have that person in front of you and so many miles away at the same time.Chooseyourtragedy. If you’re ending it on a happy note, make the lovers marry or kiss each other.You can also challenge yourself by mixing both faces of the coin. Separate them, but with happy, nostalgic faces, keeping the option of reunion alive.

Characters :- Make them flawed. Make them like normal people who fart and scratch their crotches. Don’t create Edward Cullen unless you’re writing for teenage girls (here I go again). Try to make them completely different from each other, with just one common strand to connect. I have a formula for this. I call it Wealth, Looks and Intelligenceformula. A perfect person will have each of these in abundance. Give your characters at most just two of these. So, the son of a millionaire, who is good looking but dumber than a pomegranate should fall for a poor girl, who is beautiful and intelligent. Or you could even make it better. A sexy guy who’s blind but rich, and an ugly girl who’s smart but poor. Or a rich gorgeous girl who screws her boss and a poor modest guy who drives a cab. Make them look impossible together and then make them look possible together. Your job is to awe the reader. Do it like a champ.

Location :- The setting. It doesn’t have to be a Paris. Every setting can be romantic if you know the art to describe things. For that, observe and describe. Watch sunsets. Imagine your girl walking with you on the beach. Watch it in movies. Pay attention to details. Craft your sentences beautifully. And GET OUT OF IIT COLLEGES. OR OFFICE CUBICLES. Love stories can progress anywhere, even in a Kumbh Mela.

ThePlot :- What’s going to happen in the story? It’s the most difficult part. So I have a setting, I have the characters, and I know one of them is going to die. But what now? What’s one theme that’ll be roaring throughout the story? How are they going to meet? What’ll propel the story? To be honest, I don’t have a plan for that. I’d suggest just go with the flow. Knowyourrhythm. That’s important. Make them fight, resolve disputes, and fight again. Make one of them die abruptly, or gradually in a series of breakdowns. Make the story start with a completely different mood than how it’s ending. Start a tragedy with a kiss. Start a happy ending with a divorce threat. It works.

TheNarration :- This, for me, is the most important thing in a story. You might have a great story to tell, but if you don’t know how to tell it, the readers are going to yawn and call you a bore. For narrative, beinteresting. Mix every literary weapon you have. Be funny, be beautiful, be cruel. Evoke every emotion in the reader, except making them want to puke. For this purpose, write in first person unless you’re writing about miserably screwed up characters. Write interesting dialogues. Don’t write everything that the characters say between inverted commas. Write what’s interesting and important. Writememorable quotes. Because five years after reading your story, only the best quotes shall remain verbatim inside your readers’ minds.Take this quote from The FaultinOurStars as an example :- As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep, slowly, and then all at once. This is so beautifully constructed. The metaphor so hits the right note. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy paragraph, just a few words, and that’s it. Your job is done.

So these are my 5 tips. Of course, following these won’t make you a Dickens, but it’s not such a dung either. You can try if you wish.